Lifeboat securing means



Aug. 9, 1932. w, DEAN 1,870,714

LIFEBOAT SECURING MEANS JPFiled April 29. 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. W. RAY DEAN A TTORNEYS Aug. 9, 1932.

W. R. DEAN LIFEBOAT SECURING MEANS 2 Sheets-$heet 2 Filed April 29, 1930 INVENTOR. W RAY .DEA/v A TTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 9, 1932 WILBTTB RA-Y DEAN; OF BANDON, OREGON .LIFEBOAT SECURING MEAN$ Application filed. April 2e,

Thepresent invention relates to improvements in life boat securing means, and its principal object is'to provide means for securing a life boat relative to a ship in such 5 a manner that when the life boat is to be lowered in case of emergency it may be landed a considerable distance away from the ship so as to avoid danger of collision with the ship. p

A. further object of the inventionis to provide a life boat securing means that allows the life boat'to be operated very eXpediently and quickly by the efforts of a single person. More particularly it is proposed in the present inventionto provide davits for supporting the life boat which are hinged so that when the lifeboat is to be lowered the davits may be swung on their hinges away from the ship whereby the danger of collision during the lowering operation is practically averted. It is further proposed in the present invention to provide winches for operating the life boat securing device, independent winches being provided for raising and lowering the boat relative to the davits and for lowering and raising the davits themselves. I 7 It is further proposed in the present invention to provide means whereby the winches may be operated either together or separately. It is further proposed to provide means for locking the hinged davits in their normal position, the said means being made to be quickly releasable in case'oi": emergency.

Further objects and advantages of my in-1 vention will appear as the specification proceeds; 1 The preferred form of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which r Figure 1 shows my arrangement in end elevation;

Figure 2 shows the samerarrangement in top plan View;

Figure 3 shows a detailed view of a locking means in plan view; 7;) Figure 4: an elevation of the winches used for operating my mechanism;

1930. Serial no. eraser.

Figure 5 a top plan view of the" winches, and i Figure 6 an end viewof the winch mechanism shown in Figures t and 5.

While I have shown only the preferred tormof myinvention I wish to have it understood that various changes or modific'a tions may be made within the scopeof the claims hereto attached without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Referring to the drawings in detail, it will be seen thattwo davits 1 of conventional form with a straight lower sectionyand a curved upper section are pivoted as shown 2 to its supporting member 3,which lat-, ter is swiveled in a base a suitably supported in the'side of the ship in operative proximity to one of the decks shown at 5. From the upper end of each davit is supported a sheave 6 and an lntermedlate 560131011 of each davit supports a rlng 7 whlch serves as supportmg .means for a second sheave 8. A standard 9 is mounted in close proximity to each davit and has two rollers 10 mounted. therein. The life boat 11 is normally disposed underneath the upper ends of'the davits when the latter are turned inwardly, and a rope 12 connects'each end of the boat with a winch indicated aft-13, the rope passing over the sheaves 6 and 8, and between the rollers 10 so that the boatmay be raised or loweredby operation of the two winches 13. Thelatter are mounted'on the shaft 14 supported in two frames 15 andhaving a gearwheel 16 at one end which meshes with @a pinion 17 adapted'for manual operation by means of a crank 18. I 1

A second ring 19 is revolvably mounted on each davit land is connected through the rope'20 with a second winch 21, thetwo latter winches being mounted on" shaft 22 supported in the t'wofram'es- 1 5 and having The gear wheel 23 is slidable onthe shaft 221 and may be disengaged from-thepinion 17 by operation of a conventional actuating means such as the fork indicated at 25.

Each of the two shafts 14: and 22 is preferably provided with suitable brake mechanism shown in detail in Figure 6, the brake in'each case comprising a brake band 26 fastened to a pin 27 with one end, and extending around a drum 28 and connected with its free end to a handle 29, which is also pivoted at 27. A weight 30 on the handle 29 insures normal brakingw action.

For holding the davits in their normal ver- Iical positions I provide suitable locking means illustrated in detail in Figure 3, each locking means comprising a lever 32 pivoted to the top of the deck or-some other suitable support as at 33 so that .a finger 34L extending irom one end of the lever may close the recess in which the davit is mounted when pulled into operative position by means 01"- a spring 35. When it is desired to release the davits-the operator pushes the lever over with freedomofrevolving motion and having a sheave supported in the upper end thereof, a standard mounted adjacent the davit and having sheaves supported therein, winches mounted in spaced relationto the davit and the standard, a cableconnecting one of the winches and the davit and guided over one of the sheaves in the standard for loWering and raising the davit and a second cable connecting the other winch and a boat disposed :under the davit and guided over a sheave in the standard for lowering and raising the boat.

Signed at Bandon the county of Coos r and State of Oregon this 17th day of April A. Nineteen hundred and thirt y WILBUR RAY DEAN:

against the tension ofthe spring 35 and then fastens the other end of the lever in'the po sition shown in Figure 3 by means of a bolt 36 or any other suitable device. The two levers are interconnected for common action byxa -link 37. v i

a The operation of the device will be readily imderstood from. the foregoing description.

the boat, which he may do by, simultaneous operation of both sets ofwinches, the feeding out of the rope .20 allowing the davits to swing away 'from the ship into substantially if horizontal position, while the feeding out of the rope 12 allows the boat to be lowered relative to the davits. It will be noted that in this manner the boat is spaced from the side of the ship by the full length of the I davits, and that the danger of collision of the boat with theship is made very remote thereby. For pulling the boat into position,

suchas shown in Figure 1, the operation just described is merely reversedythe end crank being used for pulling the ropes in the desired direction. It should be understood that while in the above specification, I have principally referred to manual operation of the crank 18, operation by motor powermay be substituted whenever the size of the boat is suohas to make operation by manual labor ineflicient,

I claim:

Life boat securing means fora shipcomprisingadavit hinged-to the edgeoftheship I 

